What do you want to achieve by the time you reach your next landmark birthday; (ya know, those birthdays that end in a zero?)

What do WE want?

We live in an age, where we are being professionally influenced for the vast majority of our waking hours. Every time we listen to a radio, watch a TV or sit in front of a computer, there are highly skilled people trying to convince us to change how we think and take some kind of action.

Advertisers want us to buy their products.

Celebrities want us to buy their sponsor’s products.

Politicians want us to see things their way and give them our vote.

Charities want us to help them make a difference.

There are even voices that want to tell us what shape our bodies need to be and how we should dress.

With all these inputs trying to shape what we think and believe, it’s good from time to time to get back in touch with what WE WANT, based on OUR VALUES and what matters TO US.

The next time you are putting some goals down for your business or yourself, make sure they are what YOU want. Not what you are supposed to want. It’s a lot easier to get motivated, when it’s our own goals and targets we are aiming for!

That’s why I was delighted, when I was emailed this morning by Advertising Age; telling me that this blog has just been listed in their Adage Power 150!

Advertising Age is a very popular and well respected weekly publication and online resource; for people interested in marketing, advertising and the media. As one of their regular readers for many years, this recognition means a great deal to me.

It’s also humbling to listed along with the likes of Seth Godin, BrandRepublic and Mashable.

When I launched this blog, I decided to introduce a zero advertising policy – no paid advertisingor endorsements. There were a couple of solid reasons for this.

Firstly, I don’t like blogs, which are just glorified advertising vehicles. They make me wonder if the posts are being written just as a way to sell ads, rather than provide genuine value.

Secondly, I wanted to show you that this blog contained information you could trust, without you having to wonder if I was being paid to recommend a product or service to you. My aim was to use my ad free approach, as a way to increase the quality of the content here and make it a more valuable resource for you and your business.

I soon had to include unpaid endorsements in this ban, as it was the only way to prove that this was a fully, paid-ad free blog. I tried offering unpaid recommendations, but as you will see later in this post, it just didn’t work.

However, after reviewing the impact of this approach since the blog’s launch in winter 2008, it’s become increasingly clear to me that my zero ad / recommendation has actually done the total opposite of what I intended.

In reality, banning all forms of paid and unpaid recommendations, has stopped me being able to provide you with a stack of genuinely useful, valuable information. I have also been unable to share some great resources with you, things that I pro-actively recommend to people on the radio or when I give a talk. I have even been unable to answer some common reader questions here; things I get asked all the time and have to answer individually via email – because the answer involves me directly recommending a product or service to you.

To show you what I mean, here’s just a few examples of the kind of issues I’ve encountered, by refusing to offer any form of paid or unpaid promotion here:

Over the years, I have invested thousands of pounds and dollars on marketing and other business related audio programmes. Some of these programs have been massively useful and have the potential to directly help you and your business. One program helped me to totally transform my whole life! However, I have not been able to recommend them here. This has clearly stopped me being able to provide you with something of genuine value.

After I reviewed Seth Godin’s blog, I got emails and messages on Twitter, complaining that it was an advertisement! In truth it was an endorsement, albeit an unpaid one, for a site that offers stacks of great, free content. There’s been (literally) dozens of similar examples. I mention this, to highlight the difficulty I have found in being able to bring you really useful information – within my self-imposed guidelines. This has clearly stopped me being able to provide you with resources of genuine value.

David Henderson sent me a copy of his book; “The Media Savvy Leader” to review. I loved it. David’s a former Emmy Award winning CBS News Correspondent and really understands the media. His book is excellent, BUT I wasn’t able to review it for you here. So, I find myself in the insane position, where I can pro-actively recommend his book to my friends and contacts, but not to you. This has clearly stopped me being able to provide you with something of genuine value.

I get emails on a very regular basis, from people asking the same questions – questions, which I could answer easily in the blog, but can’t because they involve me giving an endorsement. These include:“What emailing software do you use for your newsletter?”, “Which is best for Twitter management; TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop?”, “Which hosting company do you use for your blog?” and “What wordpress theme do you recommend?” etc, etc.

I know from the volume of email I receive, that answering questions like these here on the blog will help a LOT of people.

So, my friends and contacts all know the things I use and endorse, but my readers here don’t – And that’s just wrong!

Then there’s the borderline stuff

Things get even crazier, when you look at other borderline advertising issues here. For example, is that button in the sidebar that says ‘Twitter’ an ad for Twitter or not? What about the link at the bottom of the screen, that lets you know who configured this blog for me, surely that’s an advertisement? What about the links in my sidebar or the people who promote their services in the comments section of the blog? Though none of these mentions were paid for, surely they are all forms of advertising?

Clearly, something had to change. So after a lot of thinking, I have decided to kick the zero ad policy into touch!

Removing the barriers

The time has come for me to remove this barrier, so I can increase the value of this blog to you and your business. As a reader, you are likely to notice two significant improvements:

Firstly, I will be able to write posts far more frequently, because posts will be written with total freedom and none of the previous limitations.

Secondly, the blog will become a more valuable resource for you. That’s because the only qualification a post will now need, in order for it to be published here, is that I believe it will help you or your business to succeed. This leaves me free to share everything with you and is a powerful enough reason by itself, to make the change worthwhile.

Full disclosure

I have not spoken to anyone yet about paid advertising here, as my primary reason for this change is to give myself the freedom to deliver better quality content to you. Everything I recommend on this blog, will be something I use and/or believe in 100%.

Of course, having now made this announcement, it’s likely there will be advertising enquiries. I have a blog that already successfully offers paid and unpaid endorsements, advertising and reviews; via a full disclosure policy. When the time comes, I will use a full disclosure policy here too. This means everything related to any form of paid advertising that you see here in the future, will be clearly identified. Full disclosure allows total transparency and the development and retention of trust.

For example, if I recommend a book to you that’s on amazon, and I include an affiliate link to it in the post, the link will be clearly marked as an affiliate link. Then, if you want to read reviews of the book on amazon or buy a copy, you can do so with just one click. By the way, bloggers typically make VERY little money from this kind of link. Chris Brogan refers to it laughingly as ‘beer money’ – and he has a massively popular blog. These links are primarily offered as a useful resource for people that are interested in finding out more about the book.

Conclusion

There’s a real irony about this, as I can be more open and transparent without the former ad ban, using full disclosure, than I could with it. Remember, only a relatively small number of my long-term readers even knew what my policy was! Everyone else must just have wondered why such a popular marketing blog had no ads and seldom reviewed anything!

By having the freedom to write for you, without all the previous restrictions, I hope to significantly increase the value of this blog to you and your business. I would like to know what you think about these changes, so please leave your feedback in the comments section below or if you prefer, by contacting me here.

Update:In the 2 days since writing this post, I have received almost 90 messages; through the comments below, emails, Tweets and even a phone call from a long time reader – which was brilliant. All the feedback thus far is in support of what I am trying to do here. I have also seen my largest ever increase in my RSS subscribers. Thanks to everyone!

In this post, I am going to show you how to get massively better results from your advertising – starting right now!

Making advertising work!

If you tried advertising in the past and found that the only winner was the person who sold it to you, you’re not alone. Over the years, I have helped market the services of thousands of businesses, spanning just about every industry and profession. During my initial conversations with the people behind these businesses, I would often hear a version of the following statement:

“We tried advertising – it doesn’t work!”

Advertising actually DOES work (really well), but only if you use it correctly. I have personally sold many millions of pounds (and dollars) worth of products and services for my clients and myself, with the help of advertising. In this post, I am going to share one of the secrets of my advertising success with you.

If you have a small or medium sized business and are advertising with the intention of making sales, boosting your profits and transforming your income; I suggest the only form of advertising worth investing in is action advertising.

Why is ACTION advertising so effective for smaller businesses?

ACTION advertising is designed to make the reader take action. Big companies are usually seeking to get someone to switch from one brand of cola, razor blade or sports shoes etc to another. These adverts can be effective by simply associating good feelings or famous / beautiful people with their ‘brand.’

Small businesses typically advertise in order to generate sales. Their advertising needs to; get their phone ringing, fill their store with eager buyers or fill their inbox with sales requests and enquiries. This means their adverts need to inspire some form of direct response or action from the reader / listener. A good quality action advertisement includes the following:

– It tells the reader who the advertiser is. – It tells the reader what the benefits of their product or service is. – It gives them a motivating reason to ACT NOW – to call, visit or e-mail the advertiser. – It tells them to contact the advertiser – usually with a time sensitive or limited availability element!

Here’s an example of a simple action advertisement I read (with the company’s details changed):

“ACME Widgets can save you a recession-busting 45% on your annual widget costs, that’s why we are inviting you to attend our wine and widget evening on 26th February at 7pm. You can reserve your place now by calling Rachael on 012345 123123. As places are limited, please call now to avoid disappointment! Acme Widgets, 22 East Street, London.”

In contrast, most small business advertising creates little motivation for the reader to take action. These ads are often based around the following: – They tell the reader the name of the service or business. – They show the reader the advertiser’s logo. – They tell the reader a little about what the advertiser does or their benefits. – They sometimes list a ‘special offer’. – They usually give the reader some contact details.

These ineffective adverts provide information about who the advertiser is and what they do, BUT give no reason for the reader to take action and contact them. Guess what – generally, no one does! Here’s a real life example, (with the company name/details changed):

“Acme Widgets have over 20 years of experience and our customer service is second to none. Last year our widgets were voted ‘Best Value Widget’ by What Widget Magazine. Our best selling Orange Widget is just £250. Acme Widgets, 22 East Street, London”.

The majority of small business advertising I see in the press or in trade journals, is far less effective than it could or should be. There is nothing compelling about what they say – nothing to inspire the reader to do anything. When I started out in marketing, back in the 1980’s, we used to call these ineffective advertisements ‘flick-through ads’ – because people would literally see them and just carry on flicking through whichever publication they were in, without doing anything.

Remember, all motivation comes from motive

If you want your advertisement to generate masses of new business, you can! But you need to advertise where your ideal future clients/customers are and give them a BIG enough reason to inspire them to take the action you require. People are not stupid and will only contact you if there’s a compelling / motivating enough reason for them to do so. Just having your message “out there” is simply not enough!

Would you like to gain a massive marketing advantage and boost your sales? Then find a way to market your services, which is NOT already being used by your competitors!

Take a look at the businesses in your local area and you will notice something interesting.

You will see that businesses in the same industry, advertise in the same places, to the same potential clients, using the same kind of marketing messages and the same kind of promises!

As a result, their marketing pretty-much cancels each other’s out. This is a shocking waste of money and extremely low leverage.

Creative marketing

To gain a competitive marketing advantage, you should think of ways to creatively market your services, which are not already being done-to-death by your competitors.

A great way to find new marketing ideas, is to look at the marketing methods common in other industries, which are not being used in your own. Then, think how you can adapt those forms of marketing for your business!

For example, a number of stores are now paying bloggers to write posts about their stores and their ‘special offers.’ Regardless of your industry, if your competitors are not already doing this, it could be well worth considering for your business!

Just imagine a well-known blogger, who has the respect of your future clients, telling them how brilliant you are – that’s powerful! Before you ask, I don’t offer this servicemyself.

If you provide a service that has a national or international client base, like; web design, copy writing, SEO, coaching, consulting – or you sell products via a website, you might want to consider sponsoring a podcast aimed at your core prospect group. This can be extremely powerful and yet, it’s a form of marketing that’s totally overlooked by most small businesses – including your competitors!

The bottom line

If you want your business to ‘stand out from the crowd,’ stop marketing it where all the competition is!